I am currently a 4th year dental student at the University of Southern California and we do have implant requirements prior to graduation. We are required to complete two implant cases. For the actual placement of the implant we prepare everything for the implant surgery such as casts and stent try-in. If the case is more complicated we will assist either a periodontist or oral surgeon for the implant placement or if it is a straight forward case we will place the implant ourselves. We are also responsible for restoring the implant wether it is a crown or an FPD. I am glad my school incorporated this requirement into our curriculum because I believe implants are the direction dentistry is headed.

I am a D3 student at Roseman University - College of Dental Medicine. At Roseman we do not have any specific implant requirements and although we are a relatively new school we are allowed to place and restore dental implants. We have an amazing Oral surgery department along with help from periodontists and prosthodontists that guide the students with implants. Our fees are about half of what you would expect to pay in private practice so many patients will express interest in getting implants and many students have placed implants in their 3rd year. We receive pre-clinical training in implants and continued education in our 3rd and 4th year on implant placements. The increased popularity in implants and the frequency of patient requests for implants is certainly enough evidence to push dental schools to educate their students on how to properly place and restore dental implants. I personally hope to gain more experience and wish to place and restore implants in private practice.

As implants become increasingly popular, the techniques and theory of implant dentistry is working its way into the UCSF curriculum more and more each year. Although for many patients implants may not be the best or most reasonable option due to finances, etc, implants are becoming more affordable and predictable. Therefore, it seems like a very necessary component of the dental school curriculum. As first and second years, we hardly do any formal training, however in third and fourth year, we have several rotations (Periodontics, Hospital Dentistry, Oral Surgery) all which involve assisting implant placement. As far as restoring implants, we are able to take on and treatment plan single tooth implants starting 3rd year. It's a great opportunity to make the most of the time we have in clinic and treat a wide range of patients. It's also very nice to have a prosthodontics specialty, where students can go see complex restorative implant cases which we would otherwise not be able to do as predoctoral students. The opportunities are endless, and although we may not physically be able to place many implants ourself, we have several gateways available to learning more about implant dentistry if it's of interest to the student.

I am a second year and something that I have had experience on is implant consults. At our school we have an oral surgery rotation where we go and shadow and sometimes have extraction experience with upperclassmen. This is a unique experience for us because we have a dedicated week to kind of dive into that world. We usually have one day where there is implant consults and its amazing seeing the things the oral surgeons look for along with students on who is a good candidate for such procedure. The current D3's can work up the patient now after having taken the implant course given at our school and can help assist the oral surgeon or GPR resident on the actual placement and follow up. From what I have heard its been a great experience and the D3 class is getting more and more experienced which is great!

Hello. I'm a current 3rd year student at Marquette University, in Milwaukee, WI. In terms of experience with implants, Marquette has a semester long comprehensive course that students take during the summer of the D2 year. The course includes a didactic lecture portion as well as hands on simulations. We learn how to fabricate surgical guides and also practice placing implants and restoring them on the manikins. Beyond this course, implant experience may be limited for some students, it really depends. Marquette treats a majority of the underserved populations, and since state insurance doesn't cover implants, many of our patients don't decide to choose that treatment. However, we still have a significant portion of the population that does come for the implants. The prices are less expensive than private practice and so it is enticing to the larger population. For those seeking implants, students go through the appointments with the patient and also meet with the restorative doctor and periodontist to discuss the case. They also make the surgical guide. The actual placement of the implant is done by a periodontist. At times, if you can show genuine interest, they may let you place it as well. As far as the restoration goes, you work closely with a restorative doctor and you create the crown for the implant. Hope this helps!

At OHSU we had a full term class in spring of 2nd year all about implants including 3 hours per week of simulation lab time. We have a perio residency program at our school and the residents there place the implants for our patients although we are still their primary providers. I have assisted in the procedure of both placing the implant and the extraction/bone graft months before and feel like I know quite a bit about implants. However, I am a long way from feeling comfortable placing them myself and as many others mentioned in this forum, I would just not feel comfortable placing implants without some really advanced CE after I have graduated and have my feet under me in regards to confidence in all my general dentistry procedures. I do indeed plan to place implants in house at my practice someday, but I am not sure when that will be and a lot of it depends on if/when I can afford the extra training to make it a reality .

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I am a third year student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We have an intensive pre-clinical course over 2 semesters, during which we learn methodologies of implant placement and restoration, and place implants on stone models. Beginning our third year, we are required to begin managing at least one implant case. A select few of our fourth year students are allowed to place their own implants. As a third year, I am currently restoring 5 STI's (single tooth implants), meaning I did NOT perform the surgery, but I do take the final impression, and fit the abutment and crown. Overall, UIC provides a fantastic implant experience.

I am a fourth year student at Midwestern-IL School of Dental Medicine. At our school, implants are rarely placed. Midwestern is a new school with no residencies programs. Our oral surgery department is lacking in faculty support. We usually refer the patients to private practice or other schools with specialty programs for implant placement. Currently we are allowed to place one implant/arch, with no anterior implants. You must consult with the perio faculty and then present to an implant committee if you have a patient, which requires implants. The wait can be 12-18 months to complete this process. Immediate after graduation, I would not feel comfortable practicing implants. If I was interested in placing implant, then I would attend multiple CE courses to ensure my through understanding. Implants are a great option and the way of the future in dentistry! I look forward to learning more about implants post-graduation.

I'm a third year student at NYU College of Dentistry. Our clinical requirements during 3rd and 4th years require us to place at least 2 mandibular implants for overdentures and delivery of implant crowns. We have pre-clinical training, periodontal rotations where we assist residents in implant placements, and various opportunities outside of school to take courses that enhance our experiences with implants. I feel comfortable with the process of placing an uncomplicated implant procedure on the mandibular anterior area but will definitely require more training and exposure before I am fully confident in performing procedures related to implant dentistry post-graduation.

I am a third year student at LECOM School of Dental Medicine. Our school is fairly new and still in the process of establishing a very comprehensive curriculum and integrative clinic experience. We had multiple lectures about implants during our second year, as well as two interactive simulation clinic session where we placed implants in cast models. Our school does not have specialty programs or departments, so we do not have residents or faculty placing implants at the school clinics. Right now, we refer patients out to local dentists if they need implants placed. However, the school has a CBCT machine and they are working on starting a more thorough implant course in the near future. So hopefully, future classes might be able to start placing implants at the school clinics as well. I know implants are not for every patient, and the case selection is very important, but I believe implants are the best option to replace missing teeth. I hope to be able to place implants when I start practicing as a general dentist, and I look forward to taking as many CE courses as possible to learn as much as I can about this subject.

I am a 2nd year student at University of the Pacific. There are plenty of opportunities at our school to learn about implants. We have an implant course as well as additional multidisciplinary lectures in many other courses. There aren't any specific competencies required for graduation, however, there are plenty of implant cases so if we want to take one on, it is not very hard to find one. For anything more complex than a single posterior unit, the student handling the case has to present the case in a seminar to the surgeon, prosthodontist, and anyone else who will play a role. The presentation will contain a complete work-up of the case - radiographs/CBCT, models, photos, surgical templates etc to ensure understanding of how the case will proceed. If approved by the group of doctors, the case can move forward. Students will not place the implants, but will be involved in nearly every other step of the treatment. I am currently working on case that will be a mandibular 2 implant over-denture for a patient whose lower denture is very unstable. Assuming treatment will be successful, this will significantly improve the quality of life for this patient. It is incredible how much implants can positively affect peoples' lives.

I am a 3rd year dental student at East Carolina School of Dental Medicine. We have an implant course 4 hours a week, in which we have a 1 hour lecture and a 3 hour lab in our pre-clinical lab. If we have a patient in clinic who is planned for implants, our residents or faculty will place the implants (depending on how much bone grafting is required) and we (pre-docs) are then able to restore the implants and place the crowns. I find this experience to be very helpful, but I will not feel comfortable to place implants immediately after graduation. I will want to attend multiple CE courses to ensure I am 100% competent in this surgery.

I am in second year student at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. We have a semester of implant during our second year where we learned the science of an implant. During our clinical years (3rd & 4th) we are required to have at least one implant case. We are in charge of scheduling the patient for any pre-treatment necessary and for consultations. We consult with perio faculty, restorative and implant to ensure that all the factors involved in implant are covered. I am actually an implant patient at my school and so far my provider (4th year dental student) reviewed my case, performed an enameloplasty for a mesially tilted molar and made my surgical guide. Now I am scheduled for an appointment with a perio resident. So we are REQUIRED to know about and do the restorative steps for implant at UB Dental and we have amazing faculty such as Dr. Sebastiano Andreana who are world class in the implant field.

I am a third year dental student at University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and still in the mists of my implant training. We have a yearlong course in implant our third year on the NobelReplace system which is the same system that our Implant Center uses. So far we have had the basic concepts on placement and next semester we will learn abutment treatment and healing. We have had one simulated lab so far on placement using the same drills as the clinic. With the larger demand for implants from patients the hope is to have everyone in our class experience placement and restoration of an implant. Our school also has us rotate two weeks in the Implant Center our third year assisting complicated procedures. I hope to do simple cases in implant when I get into general practice but I feel as though I may need further CE to understand the different systems.

At Western University of Health Sciences, the implant process also takes a considerable amount of time. Unfortunately, it is rare for the same student who initially treatment plans the implant to be the same student who ultimately delivers the final restoration. The specialists perform the actual implant surgery and students assist. The student provider is responsible for coordinating with the patient and acquiring all the radiographs and CBCT as well as completing all the necessary lab work (impressions, models, radiographic stent, surgical stent, etc.). Because the patient population mostly consists of low-income, underserved, and uninsured patients, implants are also often not financially feasible for many patients. Many patients are interested in implants but it is uncommon to have a patient who actually commits to the treatment. I’ve taken the final impression and delivered the implant crown for one patient that I inherited from a graduating senior. I have another patient who is in the treatment planning phase and will get a CBCT soon but she will likely need sinus augmentation so it will be quite some time before she’s ready for implant placement. Unfortunately, the longer this treatment gets dragged out, the more the patient is second guessing her decision to spend the money on implants. I definitely plan to place implants in private practice in the future but since I likely won’t get much experience with implants in dental school, I will have to rely on CEs and study clubs to gain more knowledge and experience after graduation.

I am a D3 at Rutgers - School of Dental Medicine. I have seen first hand the increased demand for implants. I have three patients (out of 12 total) that are getting implants and another one that is thinking about it. Implants are a very effective restoration for people that have lost teeth especially if the missing space is between sound teeth that do not require crowns. The only problem students are having now is getting our requirements finished with the increase demand for implants, the process take about 8 months just to finish (most times) one crown. Some patients can get immediate implant placement at the time of the extraction, but that is less common. The process can take very long and there are many steps involved. With only two years to finish out requirements waiting 8 months can put a damper on things. I plan to place implants in my private practice in the future and I believe our generation is the implant generation.